


How to Survive Christmas at SI

by Seito



Series: Insanity at Stark Industries [2]
Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Crack, Humor, Mistletoe, Secret Santa, and got into a snowball fight with jack frost, ice skating in the hallways, rise of the guardians cameo/crossover, snowball fights, special hot cocoa, steve blew up the lobby, survival manual, tormenting OCs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-20 00:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 13,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/579080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If one thought being an employee at Stark Industries was hard, surviving the Christmas season was a whole another ballgame. To make matters worse, this was the first year the Avengers were living on the floors above the company. The employees will be lucky to live to see the New Year.  </p><p>“That’s the ‘How to Survive Christmas at SI’ employee manual. Have you not read it?”<br/>"Ummm.... no?"<br/>“Oh you poor soul.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: Advent Calendar

**Author's Note:**

> So every year I do an Advent Calendar of stories, one drabble a day counting down to Christmas. This year's fandom is Avengers. 
> 
> The story is set during the middle of 'How to Survive Being a SI Employee'. In between Chapter 9 and 10 ish in my somewhat vague timeline.

**Day 1:** Advent Calendar  
  
“Boss”  
  
“Yes Veer?”  
  
“What is this?”  
  
Kit stopped her work to turn around to see what her assistant was asking her. Veer stood, holding a thick red book in his hands. “That’s the ‘How to Survive Christmas at SI’ employee manual,” she explained. Her eyes narrowed. “Have you not read it?”  
  
“Ummm.... no? Was I supposed to?” Veer asked. “How is it any different than the regular ‘How to Survive Being a SI Employee’ manual?”  
  
Silence fell over the room as Kit just stared at Veer for a few minutes. Finally she shook her head and sighed. “Oh you poor soul.”

xXxXx

  
Hotaru let out a heavy but happy sigh. Today was December 1st, which meant it was time to break out the Advent Calendar. She placed a long brown box on her desk, opening it carefully. Then she screwed the wooden green tree to the base and emptied the handcrafted ornaments on her desk. She quickly found the star ornament, labeled 1 on the back and placed it on the tree at the top, matching it to the nail labeled one. Satisfied with that, Hotaru placed the tree on her countertop.  
  
“Very nice Advent Calendar, Mrs. Yamashita.”  
  
Hotaru smiled. “Good morning Agent Coulson,” she greeted. “With any luck it’ll make it through the week before the lobby gets destroyed again.”  
  
Coulson grimaced. If he recalled correctly, the lobby was destroyed three weeks ago because a Doombot had crashed through the doors. The repairs had finished earlier in the week. Tony had been complaining that the lobby had rebuilt nearly once a month since the Avengers had moved in. To quote Tony, “It’s great to have everyone here, but I think my employees are going to start a revolt soon if the lobby keeps getting destroyed. There will be hell to pay if this drives Hotaru into quitting.”  
  
“If it’s any consolation, Mrs. Yamashita,” Coulson said. “I apologize for all you go through and applaud you for dealing with this on a daily basis.”  
  
“It’s fine,” Hotaru said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s hardly anything different than my younger years. Beside Mr. Stark was kind enough to order me several dozen Advent Calendars to replace this one if anything happens.”  
  
Coulson smiled. “Well I do think Advent Calendars are great for counting down the days to Christmas.”  
  
Hotaru stared at him, rapidly blinking. Then she let out a chuckle. “No no, Agent Coulson. This Advent Calendar isn’t counting down the days to Christmas.”  
  
Coulson’s eyebrow rose in a questioning manner.  
  
“This counts down the 25 days of insanity at Stark Industries.”


	2. Day 2: Hot Cocoa

**Day 2:** Hot Cocoa  
  
It was a Sunday quiet morning. The Avengers were having a nice breakfast. That all came to a screeching halt as Tony came rushing into the kitchen, crashing straight into Thor. “Are you alright?” Thor asked, catching the smaller man before Tony fell to the ground.  
  
“It’s December 2nd!” Tony blurted out.  
  
“Well duh,” Clint retorted.  
  
“What did you do Stark?” Natasha asked with a heavy sigh. “Invent a time machine?”  
  
“No No No!” Tony interrupted frantically. “You don’t understand! Shit! It’s already 8 o’clock! I’m not going to making it. JARVIS! Get the suit ready to deploy! I’ll just jump out the window! It’ll be faster!”  
  
Alarmed, Steve jumped out of his chair and grabbed Tony by his shoulders. “Tony! What’s going on?”  
  
“ _Today’s December 2nd, Steve,_ ” Tony stressed. “Yesterday Mimi’s Ice Cream started selling their special Hot Cocoa. I missed yesterday! They only sell it during the winter season! The guy who makes it is the same guy who does the coffee! That means he makes the last batch of hot cocoa at 7:50am and **you’re stopping me from getting some before they run out!** ”  
  
“That’s fine and all Tony,” Steve said. “But you’re still going to take the elevator like a sane person.”  
  
“But! Most people don’t say I’m sane!” Tony argued.  
  
“No excuses,” Steve said, pushing Tony into the empty elevator. “Beside even if you don’t make it, there’s always tomorrow.”  
  
Tony gasped. “Special Hot Cocoa Steve! SEASONAL SPECIAL HOT COCOA!”  
  
As the elevator doors closed, Clint looked at the rest of his teammates. “There’s no way that the hot cocoa is that special is it?”  
  
“Well,” Bruce said with a hum. “The employees here do rave about Mimi’s Ice Cream quite a bit. I’ve seen a few fights break out over the last scoop of ice cream from there.”  
  
“Should we go after them?” Thor asked.  
  
Silence fell for a brief thirty seconds.  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” Natasha said.


	3. Day 3: Christmas Tree

**Day 3:** Christmas Tree  
  
“No.”  
  
Tony gasped. “But, Seika!” he whined. He dropped to his knees and gave her his best teary face.  
  
Seika gave her boss a leveled stare. “No,” she repeated. “And please stop the theatrics. You’ve gotten worse recently.”  
  
“Now now, Seika,” Ita said. “There really isn’t any harm in fulfilling this request.” Ita sat in the chair next to Tony. His shoulders were shaking in silent laughter.  
  
“See Ita agrees with me,” Tony said, taking a seat back in the chair.    
  
“You’re just agreeing with him because for once you don’t have to do any paperwork as a result of his request,” Seika shot back.  
  
“That’s true,” Ita mused. “This is no skin off my back.”  
  
“It’s just a Christmas Tree, Seika,” Tony whined. “It’s important for the holiday. You’re always telling me to keep up the company’s moral. This is a great way to do it.”  
  
Seika glared at him before she pulled open her drawer. Reaching into it, she pulled out a large stack of folders and slammed it down on her desk. “This is all the reports, bills and statements regarding the destruction of the front lobby over the last five months. I find it hard to see why we should get a tree when it is most likely going to end up being destroyed by the end of the week. It’s just a waste of money.”  
  
“What if I install a force field of some sort around it to protect it?” Tony offered.  
  
“Plus we could get SHIELD to pay of it if it does get damaged,” Ita interjected.  
  
“We can?”  
  
Ita held up a folder of papers. “According to their company policy, they are required to compensate for all damages that they cause. If we want to get technical, the Avengers Initiative is a SHIELD project. Despite this being Boss’s private property, we could argue that we shouldn’t have to pay for the damages all the time.”  
  
“I knew there was a reason why you’re my favorite,” Tony said with a grin.  
  
“Fine,” Seika relented. “You can go get your tree, but if it gets destroyed, I’m not allowing you to buy another one!”

xXxXx

  
“Ah so this Christmas similar to our Yule holidays back home in Asgard,” Thor mused. The God of Thunder entered the front lobby, carrying a Christmas Tree on his shoulder.  
  
“Sounds about right,” Tony said. He kicked a tool box to the side and hoisted some wires over his shoulder. He was covered in oil stains and the bags under his eyes were dark from lack of sleep. “Don’t mind the mess, big guy. I’m still setting up the force field. The tree stand is right here.”  
  
Hotaru, who had been standing on the side, eyed the tree warily. While normally she approached all things in life with a calm smile, after countless years of working at Stark Industries, she always approached the holiday season with a nervous and caution look. If Agent Coulson thought her job was insane during the normal year, nothing compared to the craziness that happened during the holidays.  
  
“Seika approved a tree this big?” she asked. It looked large as Thor had carried it into the lobby but after Thor put it up, Hotaru could see the tree was easily nine feet tall.  
  
“She doesn’t know yet,” Tony said offhandedly.  
  
“I see...” Hotaru trailed off. “And you want me to decorate this how?”  
  
“Get Kai to help you?” Tony suggested.  
  
“I wish to help as well!” Thor offered.  
  
Hotaru stared at the tree. Well, at least the tree wasn’t made out of gold alloy.


	4. Day 4: Ribbons and Bows

**Day 4:** Ribbons and Bows

Honestly, this wasn't how Clint expected his day to go. One minute he was walking down the hall, the next minute he was tied up with red ribbon and shoved into an air duct. If he wasn't so annoyed, Clint would have been expressed. "Are you sure you aren't a ninja?" Clint asked.

Kai merely smiled.

"So why are we in the ducts again?" Clint asked.

"My wife needs help decorating the tree," Kai answered.

"That doesn't explain why we're in the air ducts," Clint pointed out.

Kai untied Clint and pointed out of the vent. "The tree is nine feet tall and there was no way I was letting my wife climb a wobbly ladder."

Clint peered out to see Hotaru at the bottom, decorating the bottom half the tree with golden tinsel, lights and silver ribbons and blue bulbs. Thor was working alongside her, starting a level beyond Hotaru's reach. He let out a low whistle. "Stark pulled out all the stops didn't he?" Clint looked at Kai. "And how exactly do you want me to help?" Clint asked.

Kai handed Clint a bow and several arrows with Christmas lights dangling from it. "You aim to that air duct across the room from us. I'll shoot it back to you and if our aim is good enough we will be wrapping the lights around the tree."

"You're serious?" Clint asked, gapping.

Kai gave him a leveled stare. "Do you have any other suggestions? I'm all ears."

Clint had a few ideas, but they all resulted in the tree falling over or catching on fire if they weren't careful. Or involved lifts and scaffolding, which Clint had feeling, Hotaru didn't want being up in her lobby.

"No," Clint said, shoulders sagging. "Why did Stark buy such a big tree?"

"At least it isn't the blinding gold alloy one from last year."

"What?"


	5. Day 5: Secret Santa

 

 **Day 5:** Secret Santa

  
"Why am I doing this?" Seika asked. She jotted down a name on her list and then placed another piece of paper into the red envelope.  
  
“Because you’re the best person for the job,” Pepper chimed with a smile.  
  
Seika gave Pepper a leveled stare. “We hired a new HR person last month. Why am I doing this instead of her?”  
  
Pepper’s smile grew wider. “Because she quit yesterday.”  
  
“Why?! Nothing went wrong yesterday!”  
  
“That’s the point,” Pepper said. “She spent the entire day waiting for something to happen that she had a nervous breakdown. I give her props for lasting that long.”  
  
Seika sighed. “We need to find someone to take over that crazy job so I don’t have to.”  
  
“Yes yes we do.”

xXxXx

  
Veer reached Chapter 3 of the survival guide. So far he learned that he should have avoided the front lobby until the Christmas Tree was decorated. Wish he had known that yesterday. Even though he was suppose to be helping Kit (and Kit refused to come down and rescue him) Veer ended up standing on Thor’s shoulder, putting up ribbons and ornaments as arrows with Christmas lights went flying over his head.  
  
He frowned and flipped through the chapter. “Boss why is there a whole chapter on Secret Santa?”  
  
Kit stopped and shuddered. “Oh god. I forgot about Secret Santa. After last year, I tried to block the memory,” she moaned, burying her face into her hands.  
  
“Is this another incident where I’m not allowed to ask what happened?”  
  
“Yes.”

xXxXx

  
Bruce peered into Doctor King’s lab. The younger brown haired man was nowhere to be found.  
  
“Doctor Banner.”  
  
Bruce turned around to see Tam standing behind him. “Ah, hello Ms. Black,” he greeted. He had learned after the last nerf war that Tam was one of Arashi friends from the Army. Both of them had left the service a few years ago, tired of fighting.  
  
Tam handed Bruce a red envelope.  
  
“What’s this?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Secret Santa assignment,” Tam said in a tired tone.  
  
“Secret Santa?” Bruce questioned.  
  
Tam gave him a look. “Did no one explain to you anything when you become an employee?”  
  
Bruce shrugged. “Tony just told me one day that I was an employee and to have fun?”  
  
“I see. Let me see if I can find an extra survival guide.”  
  
“Survival guide?”


	6. Day 6: Naughty or Nice

**Day 6:** Naughty or Nice

"Tony, it's late. You should go to bed," Steve announced as he stepped out of the elevator. It was already 2 in the morning and Steve had noted that Tony had yet to come up from the lobby. His head tilted the side, eyeing the messy room. Wires and parts littered the lobby. There were oil stains everywhere. Tony was hunched over a generator, welding a wire to the machine.

"I don't think Mrs. Yamashita will appreciate having a dirty a lobby in the morning either," Steve added on.

"I'm almost done with the force field," Tony said, not looking. "Do me a favor and hand box over there?"

Steve picked up a small silver box with a red button. "This one? What does the red button do?"

Tony looked up in a panic. "Not that one! WAIT DON'T PUSH -!"

BOOM!

Both Tony and Steve went flying out the lobby as a large shockwave rocked the building. The glass doors scattered, the windows from the second to fourth floor fell apart to pieces. Tony sputtered, as he struggled to get up. "My lobby!" he cried out.

Steve looked sheepish. "Well at least your force field is working?" It was true. The Christmas tree stood proudly in the lobby, untouched.

"Yeah but the shockwave knocked off all the ornaments and destroy my entire front lobby! I am not taking the blame for this," Tony snapped. Then he paled a little. "Oh god. Hotaru is going to kill you, Steve. Seika is gonna kill you. Pepper is gonna kill you! We just finished fixing the lobby from the last time it got destroyed."

Steve looked sheepish. "Maybe they won't notice?"

xXxXx

\- 6 Hours Later-

"Good Morning Seika," Hotaru greeted as the accountant walked into Mimi's Ice Cream shop. She handed Seika a cup of hot cocoa.

"You're a lifesaver Hotaru," Seika greeted with a happy sigh. "I'm so happy you get here early enough to order hot cocoa for me."

Hotaru chuckled. "It's the perks of living only a block away from work." She handed Seika second cup. "For Ita."

Seika rolled her eyes. "He doesn't deserve it," she muttered.

"Oh no, are you two fighting again?" Hotaru asked with a wryly grin. It was never new to hear that Ita had done something to get under Seika's skin. Ita was the only one who could provoke such a response out of her. They were most likely fighting over something silly like the color of their wedding invitations because they such clashing personalities. Well opposites supposedly attract.

The two of them left the ice cream shop and headed towards Stark Industries.

"Oh it's just something silly," Seika mentioned offhandedly. "I mean we're getting married next year and we're fighting over the colors of - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LOBBY?!" she shrieked. Her hot cocoa slipped from her hand to the floor as she stared in shock..

The lobby was covered the thick sheet of snow. The doors and windows were clearly gone. Tony came running over. "It's not as bad as it looks!" he quickly said.

"You said you were building a force field to prevent this!" Seika shouted. "Oh god, there's snow in the lobby. That's going to cause water damages. It's probably dripping into the basement. That's going to cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to clean everything out and fix whatever damages. The doors! I just signed the check to paid $136,000 to get them remade. Those were custom doors! All the windows are gone up to the fourth floor too? That's the Section Sigma's office! And Kit's office too! We just finished paying off all the computers we had to replace!" Seika buried her face into her hands. "There went my entire budget I just finished balancing."

"It wasn't even my fault!" Tony protested. "Steve's the one who blew up the lobby!" He pointed to Steve who pausing his shoveling from the walkway to the elevators to sheepishly wave in hello. "And I'll have you know the force field generator worked perfectly fine! The tree is still standing, though the ornaments got knocked off."

"That's not the point!" Seika snapped.

"It is!" Tony said. He looked over to Hotaru had been oddly quiet. "Hotaru?" he questioned. "Are you alright?"

Hotaru didn't answer, too stun to reply.

"Hotaru?" Tony pressed. "Steve will clean everything up and buy your favorite cheesecake with strawberry topping from that bakery three blocks away. And and we'll fix the lobby up as soon as possible." No response. "Hotaru?"

Finally Hotaru took a deep breath and smiled. "For starters, I'm not going to redecorate the tree and since my desk is covered in snow, I'm going to take the day off and head back home. I'll come back tomorrow."

She turned around and walk away. "She's upset isn't she?" Tony despaired.

"Yes," Seika nodded. "Steve is going need more than her favorite cheesecake to apologize for this." She massaged her forehead, feeling a headache beginning to form.

Silence fell for a short moment before Seika spoke up again. "You realize you're going to have to tell Pepper right?"

"Shit."


	7. Day 7: Snow Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo guess what movie I saw? Please excuse me while I indulge myself. Thus this is a crossover chapter. I meant it only be a cameo but it kinda grew bigger... >> > But as not everyone has seen it yet, there's a **tiny spoiler for the Rise of the Guardian movie.**

**Day 7:** Snow Day  
  
“How is that we clean out the entire building of all the snow, yet come back in the morning, the entire building is filled with snow again?” Tony asked. “Are you sure no one broke into the building JARVIS? We taped up all the windows and stuff.”  
  
“None sir. Just what appeared to be a small blizzard,” JARVIS chimed.  
  
“Snow day for Stark Industries,” Clint snickered.  
  
“This isn’t funny!” Tony snapped. “You didn’t see Hotaru’s face yesterday. That was the first time I’ve seen her so close to snapping. Hotaru is always calm! She’s going to murder Steve for doing this to her lobby. No no Kai will murder Steve. Assuming Seika doesn’t kill him first.”  
  
“Tony...” Steve said.  
  
Tony pointed accusingly at Steve. “If she comes in, you better be groveling Steve,” he demanded. “I already bought ten of her favorite desserts, drinks and those Japanese candies she loves.”  
  
“I don’t think bribing her with her favorite food is going to help,” Natasha interjected.  
  
“Are you even going to let your employees work today Tony?” Bruce asked. “Since the lower floors are covered in snow again.”  
  
“I don’t know,” Tony moaned. “Pepper is gonna be upset if we closed again cause tomorrow is the nerf wars. But it is Friday; we could just close the weekend and focus on getting it fixed.” He took another look at the snow. “Maybe I really should take Seika’s advice about closing the company for the holidays already.”

xXxXx

  
Jamie Bennett was in New York for the weekend, visiting his mother’s cousins. While New York was fun for the sixteen year old teen, he really wanted to go stay home. Winter was the perfect time to run into the Jack and it wasn’t like Jamie had a way to tell his friend that he wasn’t going to be around for the weekend.  
  
“Why so gloomy Jamie?”  
  
Jamie looked up. “Oh hi Aunty Hotaru. Not gloomy. Was just looking forward to spending time outside with friends this weekend.” He gave a forlorn sigh and stared out the window. There had been a wonderful blizzard last night, blanketing the city in a layer of white. Jamie couldn’t help if it was Jack’s handy work.    
  
“Oh I’m sorry about that Jamie,” Hotaru apologized. She was dressed in a thick warm purple jacket. In her arms was her five year old son, Aero in her arms. “Would you like to come with us to my office? I need... to dig a few things from the snow.”  
  
“Jamie!” Aero shouted, reaching for his cousin and wiggling out of his mother’s arms.  
  
“And I think Aero wants you to join us,” Hotaru said with a chuckle, letting her son down. Aero scrambled out of the room and return with Jamie’s jacket, dragging behind him.  
  
“Sure why not?” Jamie said.  
  
They left the house and headed towards Stark Industries. As they approached it, Jamie’s eyebrow rose at the sight of the snow filled lobby. “What happened to the lobby?” he asked.  
  
“It blew up.”  
  
Strangely, Jamie didn’t doubt his aunty’s words. He opened his mouth to ask how it happened when a snowball pelted him in the back of his heads, cutting off his words.  
  
“Who threw that?” Jamie questioned.  
  
“Me.”  
  
Jamie turned around toward the sound of the familiar voice. Standing behind him was Jack Frost. The winter spirit’s blue eyes were sparkling with mischief as he twirled his staffed around his pale fingers. “Whatcha doing in New York Jamie?” Jack asked.  
  
Jamie grinned. “Visiting family.”  
  
Aero tugged at his cousin’s pants. “Who’s that Jamie?”  
  
“That’s Jack Frost,” Jamie said proudly. Ever since Aero was born, Jamie had always told him that the guardians were real and that if you believed you could see them. It was Aero’s favorite story and he always demanded Jamie to tell him the story of how the guardians fended off Pitch the Boogeyman and saved the world.  
  
Aero’s eyes lit up. “THE Jack Frost?” he asked gapingly.  
  
“Yup. Can you see me kiddo?” Jack asked, kneeling closer to Aero’s eye level.  
  
Aero nodded before he squeaked and threw himself into Jack’s arms. “You’rereallikereallyreal!IalwaysbelievedinyoucauseJamietoldmeallaboutyourstoriesandtheotherguardianslikeSantaToothFairySandmanandtheEasterBunny.

Butbutyou’remyfavoritecauseyoumakeitsnowandit’salwaysreallyprettyl.Butyou’rehereyou’rereallyhere.Jamie!JackFrostishere!” Aero rambled off quickly.  
  
“You know... that’s most I’ve heard him say since he was born,” Jamie mentioned. “This is my cousin Aero, Jack.”  
  
Jack laughed, picking up Aero off the ground in a hug. “Well how about we have some fun?”  
  
Jamie looked at his aunty who was standing a few away with an amused smile. Hotaru waved her hand. “Go have fun. I have some stuff to take of.” Then she paused before adding on, “And not too far, Jack!”  
  
Jack looked at Jamie as Hotaru entered the snow-filled lobby. “Can she see me too?” he asked. He had learned that it wasn’t strange to find an adult or two that still believed in the guardians. Rare, but it wasn’t strange.  
  
Jamie shrugged. “I don’t know? But Aunty Hotaru and Uncle Kai are the only two people in my family who don’t act like they’re humoring me every time I tell people about you and the other Guardians.”  
  
“Ah. So a snowball fight?”  
  
 _“Yes!”_

xXxXx

  
“Mrs. Yamashita.”  
  
“Mr. Rogers.” Hotaru paused her digging to see Steve had come down to the lobby.  
  
Steve scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly. “I wanted to apologize for blowing up the lobby.”  
  
Hotaru gave him a look. “I’m not really upset about that,” she stated. She pushed the snow off the remains of her desk. It was completely destroyed. She was going to need a new one... again. Hotaru paused again to see the confused look on Steve’s face. “It isn’t like the lobby getting destroyed is a new thing,” she clarified. “Granted though this is the first time the damage has been... so extensive.”  
  
“Oh,” Steve said. “So, um are those your kids?” he asked, shifting the subject. “Do you need help with anything?”  
  
“The oldest is my cousin’s kid. So simplify my nephew Jamie. The younger one is my son, Aero,” Hotaru answered. “And no. Just recovering some knick knacks from the snow. I found most of them already. Hmm, all the paperwork is completely soaked.”  
  
“I see. Who... are they throwing snowballs at?” He had just seen both boys throw snowballs at nothing.  
  
“Jack Frost.”  
  
Steve’s eyebrow rose. “Jack Frost? As in Jack Frost nipping at your nose?”  
  
This time Hotaru actually glared at him. “Mr. Rogers, we live in a world where Mr. Odinson is an alien god, Doctor Banner turns into an indestructible green monster and Mr. Stark has the world’s most advanced technology built into his chest and you don’t think spirits like Jack Frost could exist?”  
  
“Umm.” Steve didn’t have a reply for that. She did have a point. Suddenly a snowball came flying out of nowhere, hitting him in the face.  
  
Hotaru shook her head in amusement. “Can’t be a soldier all the time, Captain. Do me a favor and go join the fun.”  
  
“That’s Captain America,” Aero told his cousin.  
  
“No way!” Jamie asked. “That’s so cool!”  
  
Steve swore he heard a third voice that said “But not as cool as me right?”  
  
“Never,” the two boys swore together.  
  
Oh why not? When was the last time Steve got into a snowball fight? Steve scooped up a ball of snow into his hands. “I’m going to get the three of you for that!”  
  
Hotaru shook her head again. Boys...

xXxXx

  
“Steve! What happened?! You’re drenched!”  
  
“I got into a snowball fight with Jack Frost.”

xXxXx

  
R&D Department: Section Sigma  
  
Christina ‘Chris’ Evans grumbled as she shoved out another bucket of snow. Their entire department had gotten snowed in and in order not to lose their experiments her boss had ordered the entire department to start shoveling.  
  
“All this snow,” she cried out frustrated.  
  
Her boyfriend, Matthew ‘Matt’ Hays, patted her sympathetically on the back. “We’re almost done at least?”  
  
Chris grumbled again and dumped the bucket of snow out of the window. As she did that, she had spotted two boys and Captain America having a snowball fight. Suddenly an idea struck. “I know what we can do with all this snow,” she said wickedly.  
  
“Oh no,” Matt said. “I don’t like that look on your face.”  
  
Chris dropped her shovel and dragged her boyfriend out the door. “C’mon! There’s bound to be enough scientists in the building left to mass produce one for all the employees.”  
  
“What are you planning, Chris?”  
  
“I’m thinking instead of a nerf war tomorrow, we’re gonna have a snowball war.”  
  
Instantly, a shudder went down several employees’ back in the building.  
  
Time Left until ~~Nerf War~~ Snowball War: 19 Hours and 43 Minutes.


	8. Day 8: Snowball Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm late. D: And this is much shorter than I wanted it to be. There are probably tons of mistakes cause my eyes are tired. Also gonna out on a limit and say that for the next week updates may be late or missing. I'll caught up later, but I have finals to worry about. OTL

**Day 8:** Snowball Fight  
  
An email went on the morning of the 8 th about proposed change of rules suggested by all the departments of the Research and Development. As a holiday twist, instead of the standard nerf war to end the year and decide the winner of the tournaments, today will an all or nothing SNOWBALL WAR! Get hit and you’re out. The last department standing will win the grand prize; friends and family members are welcomed to join. Battling outside is preferred.   
  
The reactions to the email were varied. Reportedly one accountant burst into tears. The Gamble Club panicked over the surge of new bets. A certain winter spirit expressed great joy at the news and asked his friend which department they should support. The janitorial and shipping department only had one thing to say.   
  
“Bring it on.”

xXxXx

  
“Tony, are you hiding under the kitchen table?” Steve asked. The Avengers woke up this morning to find Tony wrapped in winter clothes, under the kitchen table surrounded by pillows.   
  
“Yes,” Tony’s muffled answer came. He was bundled up for scarves around his necks.   
  
“Why?” Natasha asked.   
  
“Because today is Nerf War Day,” Tony answered.   
  
“Really?” Clint asked. “I still want to play!”  
  
“You can join for this one,” Bruce said, entering the room. “Only this time it’s a snowball fight war, but friends and family are welcomed to join. According to the email I just got at least.”   
  
“Yes!” Clint shouted.   
  
At the same time, the vent fell out, and Kai dropped out from it. He leapt over Tony’s barricade and under the kitchen table. “Hi Boss,” he greeted, tossing the snowball at Tony’s face.   
  
Tony sputtered. “Kai!” he cried out.   
  
“All’s fair in snowball war,” he chorused.   
  
Arashi came dashing out of the elevator and tackled Bruce to the ground. “Look out!”  
  
The stairs door flew open and Tam burst out throwing two snowballs. One that pelted Tony in the face and another that landed where Bruce previously had been standing.   
  
“He didn’t even leave home yet Tam!” Arashi shouted. He stood behind Thor with Bruce.   
  
“This is not fair,” Tony declared. Maybe he should just venture outside so he would be able to throw back snowballs at people, even if it made him an easier target.   
  
“It’s 9am,” Tam shot back. “The entire building is free ground. And damn you Yamashita. How do you beat me up here every time?”  
  
Kai grinned. “Not telling!”  
  
“Because he’s a ninja,” Clint added. He would bet his best bow that Kai was the world’s greatest ninja. It just made perfect sense.    
  
“Speaking of which,” Kai started. He pelted Clint with a snowball. “If you’re joining, best to get the points for knocking you out now.” He dodged the snowball throw at him by Tam and leapt back into the vents. “Catch me if you can Black!”  
  
“I’ll get you one day Yamashita!”  
  
xXxXx  
  
Coulson took two steps onto Stark Industries Property and promptly got hit with a snowball. As expected he shouldn’t have bother with coming here today. However Fury wanted the Avengers present for a meeting so he had to brave coming here anyways.   
  
“Score!” shouted the brown haired teen.   
  
Coulson opened his mouth to reprimand the boy before Hotaru beat him to it. “Jamie that isn’t an SI employee.”  
  
Jaime’s eye widen in shock. “Um oops? Sorry mister!” he called out.   
  
“Mrs. Yamashita,” Coulson greeted. “Who is this?”  
  
“This is Jamie, my nephew,” Hotaru replied with a smile. “In case you didn’t get the memo today’s snowball war day.”  
  
“I did,” Coulson said with a sigh.   
  
“Mommy,” Aero came running up to Hotaru with a hand full of snowballs. “Jack made me all of these. He said it’s really cool that your job has snowball fights.”  
  
Hotaru’s smile turned into a wryly grin. “He should visit when we have nerf wars.”  
  
“Nerf wars?” Jaime said. “You guys have nerf wars? Your job is so awesome, Aunty. Oh hey! I see someone else coming. Let’s go get them Jack!”  
  
Jamie took off, running across the front lawn, already planning to ambush the unsuspecting SI employee.   
  
Coulson looked at Hotaru with a questioning look. “Jack?”  
  
“Jack Frost,” Hotaru clarified.   
  
Coulson didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the strangest thing he heard before. Alien gods, superheroes, magic, who said there couldn’t be winter spirits too?

xXxXx

  
Section Sigma  
  
“Damnit! Why are we still cleaning out snow of this place?!”

xXxXx

  
Steve expected to be hit by a snowball as he stepped out of the elevator into the still snow covered lobby. It also didn’t surprise him that the culprits behind said snowball happened to be the three he was playing with yesterday. “Hello Jamie, Jack, Aero,” he greeted. Steve had been pleasantly surprised that as yesterday went on, he began to see a fuzzy outline of who he assumed Jack was.   
  
“Are there any more people left?” Jamie asked.   
  
“There’s only a minute left,” Hotaru called out. She and Coulson had taken a seat, sipping coffee. Coulson never did make it up to the top floor to inform the Avengers of the meeting. Too many snowballs flying around. It was easier to just sit back and let the kids have fun.   
  
“Aww,” Aero said.   
  
“No one said we have to stop,” Steve heard a voice say.  
  
“That’s true,” Jamie agreed.   
  
Snowball War Over  
  
 **Results:**  
Winner: Clerical Department With 3,420 Points.   
Second Place: Janitorial Department with 3,100 Points   
Third Place: Shipping Department with 3,000 Points  
  
Time Left Until Next Nerf War: 31 Days


	9. Day 9: Shiver

**Day 9:** Shiver

“Achoo!”

 

“Bless you.”

 

Kai shivered and sniffed his nose. “I can’t believe I got sick,” he muttered. “I never get sick!”

 

“You were playing in the snow the entire day,” Hotaru mused. She tucked her husband into their bed, mindful of their sleepy son resting on Kai’s chest. Hotaru had just returned from dropping Jamie and his family off at the airport.

 

“So were you and Jamie and Aero!” Kai protested.

 

Hotaru hummed in acknowledgement. “Ah, but Agent Coulson was nice enough to bring a heater so we all kept nice and warm and toasty,” she said. “According to Seika, you’re not the only though. Over half the employees are out sick thanks to yesterday Snowball War, including Mr. Stark.” Hotaru chuckled.

 

“I can’t believe your department won,” Kai whined. “My beloved ten year winning streak! It’s not fair that you got Jaime, Jack and Aero to help you.”

 

“All’s fair in love and war,” Hotaru sang. “Beside, your department doesn’t need any more funding. This way I get to rest for new desk without having Seika freak out about balancing the budget.”

 

Kai sniffled again and blew into a tissue. “Ita would have stopped her from freaking out too much.”

 

“He really was the right one for her,” Hotaru agreed.

 

“Alright, get the squirt off me,” Kai said, snuggling deeper into the blankets. “Before he gets sick and you have two miserable people the house instead of one.”

 

Hotaru laughed and picked up Aero. “We wouldn’t want that.”

 

As they were leaving, Kai remembered something. “Hey no one hit Aero yesterday did they? Jamie’s a grown kid and Jack’s the embodiment of winter itself, but our little boy is still a baby!”

 

Hotaru laughed again. “Don’t worry. The one person who did hit Aero, Jack, Jamie and Agent Coulson personally handled it.”

 

xXxXx

 

“They’re all sick?” Coulson asked with disbelief.  He stood in the living room area, peering at the moaning bodies huddle under blankets on the couches.

 

“Well just Tony, Steve, Clint and Bruce,” Natasha replied. She turned the page of her book. It was a wise decision not to get involved in yesterday’s snow fight. Natasha hated getting sick more than anything else. Not being able to think clearly was… annoying.

 

“And Thor?” Coulson questioned.

 

Natasha pointed over her shoulder and toward the kitchen. “In the kitchen making some “soup”.”

 

“It was quite hard to find boar feet and blood! But it will be the heartiest soup ever!” Thor answered.

 

The four sick Avengers groaned. That didn’t sound like anything appealing!

 

“Never again,” Tony swore. “Nerf Wars, fine. Snowball Wars? Never.”


	10. Day 10: Ice Skates

**Day 10:** Ice Skates  
  
Red strapped on some ice skates and pulled his red goggles over his eyes. He tugged the tiny blue machine to his wrist and pressed the green button. Instantly, the machine whirled, turning on as a bright blue light shot out of it. “Awesome,” Red said gleefully. The entire hallway was covered in a slick sheet of ice.   
  
Red took off, skating down the halls. He zoomed around the scientists and other fellow coworkers, laughing as he went. The days following the nerf wars (or Snowball war in this case) were always the best. The scientists usually throw themselves into inventing something that could help them the next time.   
  
“Red!”   
  
Startled, Red swerved directions, sliding toward the stairs. Before he could go tumbling down them, he leapt into the air, aiming for the hanging ceiling lamp. As he grabbed it, he used the forward momentum to flip himself over on top. Landing on the top of the lamp, Red gave a wary glance at the ceiling, unsure if the lamp would support his weight. Well, it was nice to know that he had it in him after taking break for the last two years.   
  
“My friend, why are you up there?” Thor asked.   
  
Red peered down to see Thor standing below. Just as he suspected. Thor was the one who had called out to him. “Geeze Thor, don’t do that. You startled me.”   
  
“My apologies,” Thor said.   
  
Red pulled off the skates and leapt down. He landed nimbly on the ground. “So what can I do for you big guy?”   
  
Thor held up a pot. “Would you like some soup? Many people are sick it seemed from the snowball war that held two days ago.”   
  
Red grinned. That snowball war was the best idea ever. Granted he cheated a little. But since the Clerical Department was using _Jack Frost_ , he figured all was fair. Magic A was Magic A after all. “Sure thing,” he agreed. “Soup sounds great after skating down the hallways.”  
  
Thor tilted his head. “Every time I come to visit you, you are testing the most wondrous things,” the god remarked.   
  
“That’s the best part about my job.”


	11. Day 11: Snowman

**Day 11:** Snowman  
  
Coulson was greeted by a very unusual sight as he approached Stark Industries. That was the entire front lawn and lobby was covered in snowmen. Not standard shaped snowmen either. He eyed the looming large one, closest to him. There was a pair of purple pants on it. Interesting... The next one he saw had a toy bow and arrow. The third red hair and was that Steve’s shield on the fourth? The fifth had a hammer and leading the charge was the sixth one with a glowing disk.  
  
Someone had clearly made Avenger Snowmen or Snowwoman in Natasha’s case.   
  
The next set of snowmen was... disturbing so to say. There was a beheaded snowman head. Another one was holding a knife. One was clearly a Sherlock Holmes interpretation.   
  
It didn’t stop there either. More scenes littered the lobby, displaying either gruesome murders or superhero fights. Was that a policebox?   
  
“The Winters Twins are at it again I see,” Ita said.   
  
“Mr. Fujiwara,” Coulson greeted as the lawyer came to stand next to him. He noted that Ita was wearing a blue cat ears today. It seemed every time he saw the lawyer, Ita was wearing some strange costume.   
  
“Agent Coulson,” Ita replied. “Don’t let the snowmen bother you. They do this every year since they were hired. At least they balanced out the murder scenes with superheroes this year.”   
  
Coulson stared at the scene again. Finally he said, “Sometimes I wonder how you people stay sane.”  
  
“That’s simple,” Ita said with a laugh. “We don’t.”


	12. Day 12: Gingerbread

**Day 12:** Gingerbread  
  
“How did I agree this?” Tam muttered to herself. She poured the brown sugar into bowl.   
  
“Because Asho battled his pretty eyes and caved,” Arashi said with a snicker. Tam responded by throwing another hand full of flour at him. His brown hair was turned a dusty white.   
  
“Will you stop that!”  
  
“Like you didn’t do the same when Bruce asked you,” Tam hissed with a glare. “And when I get my hands on Asho... I can’t believe he ditched us here.”   
  
“Shuuushh!!” Arashi whispered, glancing over to where Bruce was sitting. “I told you it isn’t like that! And beside Asho had to go make nice nice to the press who are still hounding SI about the explosion in the lobby. Your boyfriend is a saint for dealing with those hounds every day.”   
  
“Less talking and more mixing,” Tony called out. He pulled out another tray of cookies.   
  
“You’re so lucky we liked you boss,” Arashi said. He refilled his page of icing and went back to dotting eyes and buttons on the cooled gingerbread cookies.   
  
“Help make gingerbread cookies for the kids at The Peggy Carter Institution. It’ll be fun,” Tam muttered to herself. “Spending the day in the kitchen baking was not how I foresaw this day going.”   
  
“Well at least the kids will like this,” Bruce said as he rolled out his dough and began cutting out gingerbread people.   
  
“Maybe I should go and recruit more people,” Tony said. “I’m sure Hotaru would love this. Maybe not Seika. She might throw something at me if I pull her away from work. Oh oh! I bet Ita isn’t doing anything important today.”   
  
Arashi shook his head as Tony considered which employees he could kidnap and trick into helping make gingerbread cookies. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m even surprised by things like this,” Arashi asked.


	13. Day 13: Candy Cane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have survived Finals! And surprisingly only two days behind. This one is quite short though and not exactly what I expected.

**Day 13:** Candy Cane  
  
“How did Stark get us to agree to help him make candy canes?” Natasha asked.   
  
Clint paused in his rolling and stopped to seriously think about it. “Honestly? I’m not sure. I think Coulson may have ordered us and we reacted on instinct. What I’m not sure about is why we’re hand making all of them instead of just buying a bunch from the store.”

xXxXx

  
“Seika!’ Tony said bursting into her office. He had in his arms a strange red and white striped outfit. “I need you to dress up as Candie DiCanered!”  
  
Seika took one look at the outfit and said, “No.”  
  
“But but, Ita already agreed to be Rancis Fluggerbutter!” Tony protested. “And Hotaru is gonna be Vanellope von Schweetz! I had the costume made and everything!”   
  
Seika took a deep breath and tried hard not to break out into a nervous twitch. “You’ve been watching Wreck It Ralph haven’t you?” she said through gritted teeth. “Just because I said I refused to play elf to your Santa for the kids at the school, does not mean I want to dress up as a fictional character from a movie.”   
  
“Well,” Tony said. “Technically Candie DiCanered isn’t a fictional character from the movie, but rather someone completely original?”   
  
A vein in her forehead pulsed, already forewarning her of the coming headache. “And why exactly are you using Wreck It Ralph?” Seika asked.   
  
“Because Bruce and I took the kids to see it two weeks ago?” Tony replied. “Plus, we’re gonna be delivering them gingerbread cookies and I might have reproduced a working Sugar Rush game? Which is totally marketable by the way. Along with a working version Hero’s Duty and Fix it Felix Jr. Kit and Veer are testing it out right now. Why didn’t you tell me that video game field was going to be so much fun? So much potential! Oh oh! We could totally make an Avengers game.”   
  
“Mr. Stark,” Seika interrupted. “Please tell me you went through the right legal channels to obtain the rights to produce such a game?”   
  
Tony paused for a moment. “If I say yes, will you dress up as Candie Dicanered?”   
  
“No.”   
  
“Then no.”


	14. Day 14: Sweaters and Scarves

**Day 14:** Sweaters and Scarves

Agent Coulson took two steps through the broken door and suddenly found himself wearing a horrible ugly Christmas sweater. It was purple and had a Santa choosing arrows on it. Like the true SHIELD agent, he didn't blink an eye at this. Nor did he comment anything as he entered the elevator to find other SI employees in similar sweaters.

It was only until he got the top of the tower and entered the living room that he rose an eyebrow. With the exception of Clint who was hanging from the ceiling tied up with a red and green scarf, everyone was wearing a Christmas sweater.

"Do I want to know?" Coulson finally asked.

"No," Natasha remarked. She had scissor in her hand, snipping away piece by piece of her Spiderman sweater.

"Is anyone going to get me down from here?" Clint shouted, kicking his feet. "Damnit Kai, when I get my hands on you!"

"You make a lovely ornament, Clint," Bruce remarked with a smile. His sweater was a bright green with red hearts and test tubes on it.

"Shove it Banner!"

"I can't believe these things are actually sewn to our clothes underneath," Steve said in amazement. "Who could have done this? How did they do this? I just walked into the lobby this morning and suddenly found myself wearing this." He had fetched another scissor and began to cut away at his sweater. Coulson noted that Steve's Santa face sweater had an added message on the back, near the hem that read: "Property of Tony Stark." Interesting...

"These are very warm," Thor remarked in his gold sweater with cats and poptarts on it.

The elevator pinged again and out stepped Tony. Coulson snorted. Tony was wearing a crochet version of his Iron Man armor.

"I'm not sure whether to laugh at that or be envious that it actually looks normal compared to everyone's else," Bruce said.

Tony on the other hand shrugged. This wasn't the oddest thing that happened to him. While it was obvious who was responsible for it, the biggest question was why was it was happening. He pondered it for a few seconds before it hit him.

"I'm starting to think that Hotaru is upset that the lobby isn't fixed yet."


	15. Day 15: Winter Wonderland

**Day 15:** Winter Wonderland  
  
“I’m surprised you gave in so easily.”   
  
Seika lifted her head from her desk to glare at Ita. “I’ve been trying for the last week to balance the budget in order to figure out where the hell I’m going to summon up the money to repair the lobby. Look at what Hotaru and Kai forced me into!” She gestured to the blue sweater she was wearing. It read: “I’m marrying Ita Fujiwara in a year”.   
  
Ita snickered. He was wearing a matching red sweater that said “I’m marrying Seika Usuyuki in a year”. “But it’s the truth, love,” he said with a grin.   
  
Seika flushed a bright red color. “Don’t you start,” she snapped.   
  
Ita just laughed. It was far too easy to his beloved fiancée into fluster. “You could have just let Boss pay for it like he offered to.”   
  
“It technically wasn’t his mistake to pay for,” Seika grumbled.   
  
“You do care!” Ita teased.   
  
Seika shot another glare. “Beside, this way we get to promote our ice making machine. We can also raise some money to repair the lobby. It isn’t like we’re short on talent. Half the employees here have some weird talent they can do and if all else fail, the fact that the Avengers live here should draw some attention. And give the kids from the Peggy Carter Institution a real Christmas celebration.” She trailed off at the end.   
  
“There is a golden heart in my snow princess!”   
  
“Sh-shut up!”

xXxXx

  
“Winter Wonderland?” Red read from the flyer that had been handed to him in the morning. “Hmm. Trying to raise money to repair the lobby and provide a Christmas fun land for children over the weekend. As long as it doesn’t blow up the building, you can run your own booth or help with the rebuilding. Should there be enough booths and people rebuilding, you will default to the choir and other embarrassing tasks. Please see Miss Potts to sign up.”  
  
Red blinked and reread that last sentence. “Shit,” he said.   
  
He spotted Thor walking down the hall. Long hair, check. Pretty? Well handsome more like it. Female? Nope. But who said he had to follow tradition and have a pretty female assistant anyways? A superhero was bound to attract more attention anyways.   
  
“THOR WILL YOU BE MY MAGIC ASSISTANT?!”

xXxXx

  
“Doctor Banner!”   
  
Bruce had five seconds to react before Arashi ran into him. “Sign this!” Arashi shouted, shoving a piece of paper into Bruce’s hands.   
  
“What is this?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Just sign!” Arashi snapped.   
  
Bruce raised an eyebrow and signed the paper. It was rare to see Arashi acting like this. Well the flustered part was usual. The snappiness was not.   
  
“Great!” Arashi said, snatching the paper out of Bruce’s hands. “We’re running the first aid booth tomorrow at Winter Wonderland! Unless our application gets denied or someone beats us to it. But HAH! I’m a trained doctor and you know more about biology than half the people in the building. THERE IS NO WAY THEY WILL REJECT US!” He zoomed down the hall, crackling.   
  
Bruce blinked. “Winter Wonderland?”

xXxXx

“Veer! Quick what kind of booth can we do?” Kit dragged out a whiteboard and wrote Winter Wonderland on top. Neither of them wanted to end up in the choir or worst. It had to be avoided at all cost!  
  
“Food selling? Video games?” Veer quickly suggested.   
  
“Video games haven’t been approved yet. Can’t use them. We can do food selling!” Kit agreed. Then she stopped and looked at Veer. “Can you cook?”   
  
“Not... really?”   
  
Kit stared at the board and pondered. “Oh screw it,” she finally said. “We’ll just join the rebuilding crew.”  
  
As she moved to print out the signup form, her computer pinged, announcing the arrival of a new email. Kit paled as she opened it up.   
  
_‘We have enough booths and workers as of right now. Please check below to see what tasks you’re signed up for. - Pepper Potts.’_  
  
“NOOOOO!!”


	16. Day 16: Caroling

**Day 16:** Caroling  
  
Natasha was starting to worry that her skills as spy were starting to get rusty. It was not every day she woke up dressed up as reindeer. She wasn’t sure how someone could even get her into such a suit without her noticing.   
  
“You too?” Natasha looked to see Clint dressed in a similar reindeer uniform.   
  
Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “Who is doing this to us?”   
  
“Kai,” Clint answered. “The guy is a ninja, whether we have definite proof or not! I can’t believe I didn’t notice... _again_ that he’s forced me into something strange.” He rubbed his forehead. “Honestly I’m starting to wonder if the insanity that runs this place is starting to affect us.”   
  
Natasha twitched. “You’re only starting to wonder about this now?” she said.   
  
“There you two are!”   
  
Both Natasha and Clint turned to see Kit and Veer dressed in matching elf costumes. “I’m Kit, this is Veer. First time you’ve met us. We know you, no need to introduce,” Kit rambled off. Impatience clearly reflected in her tone of voice. “I hate to rush you, but Winder Wonderland is about to start and we’ve been instructed to stand by the doors and sing to the people as they enter.”   
  
“We’re... singing?” Clint asked in disbelief. “Singing what?”   
  
“Christmas carols,” Veer added. He looked down at the floor, in disillusionment, sighing heavily. This was simple another day of insanity at Stark Industries.   
  
“Why?” Natasha demanded.   
  
“Because it’s for Winter Wonderland and those of us who were too slow to sign up got stuck with stuff like caroling,” Kit said. At Natasha’s and Clint’s blank faces, her golden eyes narrowed. “You didn’t get the email did you?”  
  
“What email?” Natasha asked.   
  
Kit sighed. “You people really need to read the How to Survive Christmas at SI manual,” she muttered. Her cellphone’s alarm rang interrupting her thought process. “We do not have time for this and I’m not going to suffered through a double shift or whatever punishment they’re going to throw at us for not showing up on time.” Kit grabbed Clint and started dragging the archer to the elevator. “Grab Agent Romanov, Veer,” she instructed.   
  
Veer gave a hesitant look at Natasha. “Please?” he asked timidly.   
  
“When I get my hands on Stark,” Natasha swore under her breath.   
  
The elevator ride down was tense and silent. As they reached the bottom floor, they stepped out and ran into Seika. “I don’t want to sing in the choir,” Kit instantly announced.   
  
“That’s fine,” Seika hummed, paying only half attention to Kit’s words. She jotted down some words on her clipboard. “You can help keep the kids in order for taking pictures with Santa.”  
  
“Oh second thought, singing is great!” Kit announced.   
  
“That’s what I thought. Go find Ita. He’s dressed as toy soldier and organizing the choir,” Seika said. “Hello Agent Coulson. Nice of you to join us.”    
  
Coulson was wearing a snowman outfit. A tall black tophat had been placed on his head and carrot nose stuck to his face. “Ms. Usuyuki, why am I dressed like this?”  
  
“I’m not doing this,” Natasha added.   
  
“That’s fine, Agent Romanov,” Seika replied, looking up from her clipboard. “In that case I require a check of $500,000 dollars from you. Agent Coulson, you will be singing carols with this group here.” Seika turned and shouted to the young man who passed her. “Asho! You don’t have to sing. I’ve moved you to information desk with Hotaru! RED THAT BETTER NOT EXPLODE!”   
  
“Wait wait,” Natasha said. “A check for $500,000? Why?”  
  
Seika looked back at the Avenger. “I’m going to guess that Mr. Stark failed to inform you three, today Winter Wonderland is a fundraiser to raise money to repair the lobby. In the meantime though, I have used everyone’s Christmas bonus to pay for the supplies. People are welcome to bow out, but you must donate your Christmas Bonus to the pot as this is a big event and we need all the help we can get.”   
  
“We don’t work here,” Clint argued.   
  
“But you do live here and use the lobby,” Seika shot back. “Not to mention one Natalie Rushman is still listed as an employee despite not getting a paycheck from us. Also Agent Barton you’ve sent multiple temp resumes in order to join the Nerf War and Agent Coulson, my apologies. You’ve only been included because you’re here practically every day, arguing with me over the schematics of funding, budgets and another round of who is going pay for the damages the Avengers have caused.” She gave them a sly smile. “Since none of you replied to Ms. Potts email in time, you’ve been assigned to your current task.”  
  
The three SHIELD agents were suddenly convinced that this woman a force to be reckon with.    
  
“But,” Seika continued. “You are right, technically you three do not work here and as Avengers and friends of Mr. Stark I do not have the right to force you into doing this. It is just a small event for the children after all. Half your team is already working or will be. Shall I just send SHIELD the bill, Agent Coulson?”  
  
Coulson stared at Seika for a few brief seconds. Finally he said, “Barton, Romanov. We’re singing.”   
  
“But!”  
  
“Consider it an order.”  
  
Seika smiled. “Thank you!”


	17. Day 17: Silver and Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter to a short end of Winter Wonderland

**Day 17:** Silver and Gold  
  
“Thor. What are you wearing?” Tony asked.   
  
“It is a manly magician assistant outfit!” Thor said. He crossed his arms and proudly posed.   
  
Tony choked. That was not a manly magician assistant outfit. It was silver cat suit with gold sparkles, a frilly short silver skirt. “Why... why are you wearing that?” he asked. Tony had a vague idea as to why.  
  
“Because my friend Red has asked me to be his assistant for his magic show for the Winter Wonderland,” Thor boomed. “He is going to saw me in half! You midgardians come up with the most interesting tricks.”   
  
Of course. Yes it had to have been Red. Someone wasn’t following the rules in the survival manual. Tony twitched. He had a working but still unproven theory that his product tester employee may actually have real magic, so things shouldn’t go... horribly wrong in theory of course. “Right, if you say so Thor,” Tony said, patting the taller alien god on the arm. “Have fun.”   
  
On the bright side, if anything did go horribly wrong at least Tony would be on the other side of the room fixing the doors of the lobby.


	18. Day 18: Angel

**  
** _There are no atheists in foxholes_

**Day 18** : Angel

Bruce was having a dilemma. Christmas was looming around the corner and he had yet to figure out something for his secret santa. Ironically, the person he was searching a gift for was Arashi. It was odd that he knew so little of Arashi's likes and dislikes, despite the younger doctor picking up on all of Bruce's habits. At best Bruce had only bits and scraps of Arashi's history and was never to actually poke his nose. (He knew best to leave sleeping dogs lie.)

He did have one advantage. The person Arashi considered to be his best friend worked with at Stark Industries as well, one Tam Black.

"Tam any suggestions what I can get Arashi for Christmas?"

Tam was raised her eyebrow and gave Bruce a look that clearly said 'You really don't know?'

"That isn't an autograph," Bruce added. An autograph would clearly be an easy gift to give Arashi. Bruce knew that much. That wasn't really a gift in Bruce's mind.

Tam looked at him; her head tilting to the side. Finally she said, "Angels. Arashi likes angels."

"Angels," Bruce muttered. "Thank you!"

Tam called out as Bruce left down the hall. "If all else fails, he really does want your autograph!"

As Bruce vanished, Tam peered out the window. An old memory surfaces, causing her to smile a small wryly grin. She always had the strangest conversation with Arashi on the battlefield. As if they weren't seeing people die every few minutes or hearing an explosion and gunfire around them.

" _I have no idea why they call me Black Angel."_

" _I think it's fitting really. Angels are great. Do you believe them?"_

" _No."_

" _Why not? I like angels. Have to pray to something to keep us safe, though you're doing a great job."  
_

"Just like Raphael."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece probably came off as more religious then I intended, but as the quote at the top stated, I think it fits fairly well. For those unfamiliar, Raphael is the Angel of Healing. I found it fitting since Arashi is a doctor, trying to save lives.


	19. Day 19: Gift Wrapping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some small StevexTony hints.

**Day 19:** Gift Wrapping  
  
“Here Boss. Merry Christmas”  
  
Tony blinked as Ita tossed him a gift. He examined the small box in his hands, eyes narrowing. “Why is this wrapped in Captain America wrapping paper?” Tony asked.  
  
Ita just smiled. “They were out of Iron Man ones.”  
  
“But why Captain America and not something generic then?” Tony asked, baffled by his lawyer’s logic.  
  
“Because I thought you would appreciate it.”  
  
That still didn’t answer the question... No wait, yes it did answer the question. Tony did not like the implications of said wrapping paper. “I do not have a crush on Steve!” Tony protested.  
  
Ita reached over and patted Tony on the shoulder. “It’s just adorable when you’re in denial like that.”  
  
“ITA!”

xXxXx

  
“There you are.”  
  
Clint stopped in the middle of the newly repaired busy lobby to look up to see Kai hanging from the ceiling. “People complain when I’m perched high up but you’re doing it in the middle of a public place and no one says anything,” he complained.  
  
Kai shrugged and tossed Clint a gift. “Here, for putting up with me all the time.”  
  
Clint caught the box with ease. “They make Coulson wrapping paper?” he said, baffled. “They sell Coulson wrapping paper?” Why on earth would there be Coulson wrapping paper? Any of the other Avengers fine, sure that came with the territory of being a superhero in the public eye. But Coulson was a SHIELD agent.  
  
“I know a guy,” Kai answered. “Ah Steve! Just the person I was looking for.” He tossed a box at Steve who has just entered the lobby.    
  
Slightly startled, Steve almost didn’t catch the box. “What is this?”  
  
“A gift,” Kai responded.  
  
“Ah, yes thank you but are you sure it’s the right one? It’s wrapped in Iron Man wrapping paper,” Steve held up the box to Kai.  
  
Kai smiled. “Nope it’s the right one. They were out of Captain America wrapping paper.”  
  
“But then why choose Iron Man wrapping paper?”  
  
Kai tilted his head. “Hmm you haven’t realized it yet I see. Ita’s right, it’s cute when you guys don’t realize it.”  
  
“What?”


	20. Day 20: Mistletoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small Steve/Tony hints again. Consider this a teaser for the "sequel" to How to Survive being a SI Employee. (Well more like the concurrent storyline).

**Day 20:** Mistletoe  
  
Email  
To: Seika Usuyuki  <syuki@accounting.si.com>  
From: Brock Raikiri <raikiri@rdssigma.si.com>  
Subject: Mistletoe  
  
Just wanted to inform you that since our office is now fixed, we are going to continue with our experiments. We’re putting mistletoe up across the building.  Before you protest and say this is out of line with our experiment, please note that this is the only time of year to actually test this without drawing attention to ourselves. Yes we paid for mistletoe. Yes we will take it down after the experiment is done.   
  
-Rai

xXxXx

  
Observation Journal   
Entry #0037  
Date: 12/20/12  
Author: Christine Evans   
  
Hypothesis: “Will Subject T (Tony Stark) and Subject S (Steve Rogers) follow tradition and kiss under a mistletoe?”

**Test #001**

**Location:** Third Floor Hallway

  
9:10am - Have successfully diverted traffic. No one will take this pathway for the next hour. Winters Twins are responsible for directing Subject S down this hall. Matt is in the process of luring Subject T here with the promise of hot chocolate.   
  
9:34am - Test resulted in failure. Meet-up did not occur. Miss Potts has already provided Subject T with hot chocolate. To quote Subject T “No other hot chocolate compares to Mimi’s!”

Side Hypothesis: Has Subject T not realized that Matt owns Mimi’s Ice Cream and is the creator special hot chocolate?

To be tested on another date.

 

**Test #002**

**Location:** Lobby

  
11:54am - Mrs. Yamashita is proving to be an excellent assistant. Her ability to lie with a straight face has gotten both Subject S and Subject T under a mistletoe hanging above her new desk.   
  
11:56am - Subject S is oblivious. His response was “I cannot kiss a married woman, Mrs. Yamashita.”   
  
11:57am - Interestingly Subject T has turned a brilliant shade of red. Concrete proof that he does have a crush on Subject S or a result of embarrassment?

Note: Discuss with Mr. Fujiwara on the signs of denial. Control test shall be Ms. Usuyuki.

Secondary Note: Send Fukushi so if Ms. Usuyuki gets angry it’s directed at him instead of me.

 

**Test #003**

**Location:** Avengers’ Living Room

  
3:24pm - This is a highly dangerous situation. Currently located in the air ducts above the Avengers’ living room. While JARVIS has agreed to provide security footage of the situation, the department has decided it was best to observe with our own eyes. This will probably be last test of the day.  
  
4:21pm - Test is most likely a failure. It has been nearly an hour and no one has noticed the mistletoe.    
  
4:23pm - Agent Romanov and Agent Barton have discovered the mistletoe.   
  
4:24pm - Agent Romanov has informed Agent Barton that he should get Agent Coulson under the mistletoe with him. No kiss has taken place but Agent Barton does not look opposed of the idea.

Note: Should Agent Coulson and Agent Barton be included in this experiment?

  
  
Conclusion  
Number of Tests: Three  
Results: All three tests resulted in failure  
Inconclusive Evidence. Hypothesis is still untested.


	21. Day 21: Candlelight

**Day 21:** Candlelight  
  
Supposedly the world was to end today. Most didn’t believe it. A few did. Some did not care and carried on with their work as normal. But world ending or not, there was one thing that was causing concern. A massive blizzard was about to hit the city.  
  
In three...  
  
Two...  
  
One...  
  
The entire shining bright city went dark.   
  
“I wonder if we can use Thor as a backup generator.”

xXxXx

  
“Boss are you okay?”   
  
In the dark, Veer couldn’t see that Kit was shaking, twitching. Still he instinctively knew that she was. “It isn’t that bad boss.”  
  
Kit twitched again. “We were in the middle of backing up the entire system. And clearly the backup generators did not kick,” she said sharply.   
  
“I’m sure everything is alright.”  
  
“They better be. Or someone is going to pay.”

xXxXx

“JARVIS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!”   
  
Tony was just a hair second away from panicking. None of the backup generators were working. JARVIS wasn’t answering him. All he could do was pray that JARVIS had done something to protect himself. Tony always made sure there were layers of protection and multiple backups and servers to prevent JARVIS from crashing, but well blackouts were always tricky.   
  
“Fine sir,” JARVIS answered from Tony’s Stark Pad. “I am calling you from the Miami household.”   
  
“Oh good,” Tony said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Alright let’s see what we can do to get at least one of the generators working.”   
  
“Of course sir.”

xXxXx

  
Armed with a flashlight, Ita walked slowly down the hallway toward a thudding sound. He opened the door, just in time to see Seika drop her head against her desk again.   
  
“I see you’re taking this well,” Ita remarked in an amused tone.   
  
Seika merely let out a frustrated growl. Chuckling, Ita handed her a small blue pillow. “Here,” he said. “Scream into this if you want.”   
  
She snatched the pillow out of Ita’s hands and proceeded to scream.

xXxXx

In the lobby, Agent Coulson blinked as suddenly a candle was lit. He took a step back as Hotaru’s normal sweet smile suddenly looked dark and creepy. “Here’s a candle Agent Coulson,” she said.   
  
Coulson didn’t say anything, taking the candle as Hotaru lit another match. He watched as her entire desk lit up, covered in candles.   
  
“I see you’re very prepared Mrs. Yamashita,” Coulson said.   
  
Hotaru shrugged. The candles provided enough light to dimly light the surrounding area. “I have a whole supply room for emergency supplies.” She looked outside as the storm continued to rage. “It looks like we’re going to be stuck here for the next couple days.”   
  
“Joy.”


	22. Day 22: Fireplace

**Day 22:** Fireplace  
  
This was perfect! The blizzard not only provided an excellent cover, it had also caused a blackout which meant the tower was defenseless. Loki couldn’t have asked for a better plan if he tried. He may have helped the storm along to make it strong and may be the reason why the backup generators don’t work either.   
  
Slipping into the lobby through the works of shadows, Loki was surprised to find it completely lit by a small portable fireplace. A lady with golden brown hair was sitting near it, knitting away. As if sensing his arrival, she looked up. “Hello,” she said with a smile. “Welcome to Stark Industries.”   
  
Then her smile faltered slightly. Loki resisted the urge to cringe. It was similar expression to his mother’s, one of exasperation and disappointment. If Thor was clearly his father’s son, he was clearly his mother’s son.   
  
“Hello Mr. Odinsson,” she said, smile returning to full force.   
  
Odinsson? Really? Loki was unsure if it was more surprising that she recognized him or that she was polite enough to address him as Odinsson.   
  
“Are you here in an attempt attack the Avengers?” she asked.   
  
“Of course,” Loki sneered, humoring her.   
  
“Great!”   
  
Great? Clearly this woman was mad. “Normally I would tell you where you could find them and evacuate the building so you can have a proper fight with them, but with the blackout I cannot locate them. Also I am going to have to request that you avoid blowing up the lobby. You might give our accountant a heart attack if the lobby is destroyed again so soon.”   
  
Loki narrowed his eyes. There had to be some hidden motive here. There was no way anyone would just... tell him where to find the Avengers. “Just what are you playing at?” he hissed.   
  
The lady raised an eyebrow. “Playing? Nothing at the moment, unless you happen to know how to play poker. Agent Coulson went to find food a little while ago and I’ve been bored out of my mind since. Normally my husband would sit and play with me but he stayed home yesterday to look after our son.”   
  
“Poker?” What in Asgard’s name was poker?   
  
“Have a seat. I’ll teach you.”  
  
xXxXx  
  
Finally, the lights were back on. Tony was happy to report that the backup generators were now working. The blizzard still kept everyone trapped in the tower but at least now they could see everyone.   
  
“My brother is in the lobby!” Thor shouted. He pointed to one of the many security monitors that had flickered on once the power had been restored. It had shown Loki entering the lobby just moments before the power was lost.   
  
“He’s with Mrs. Yamashita,” Natasha said.   
  
“Let’s move!” Steve ordered.   
  
The Avengers scrambled to grab their weapons and ran down the stairs. They burst into the lobby to find Hotaru and Loki sitting near the fireplace playing cards.   
  
“Umm...” Clint said, lowering his bow. This wasn’t what he was expecting.   
  
“Either sit down and join us or leave us alone,” Hotaru said. “I am currently kicking the God of Lies’ butt in poker.”   
  
“I’ll call your bluff,” Loki interjected. “I have three of a kind.”  
  
Hotaru unfolded her hand. “A flush for me,” she chirped.   
  
“You’re cheating,” Loki accused. “Deal again.”  
  
“Deal me in too!” Tony said, taking a seat next to Hotaru.   
  
“This is too surreal for me,” Bruce said. His fellow Avengers nodded in agreement.   
  
Natasha snorted as she said, “Of course. Everyone is just insane in this building.”


	23. Day 23: Eggnog

**Day 23:** Eggnog  
  
“Good morning Mr. Stark.”   
  
“Oh god, Hotaru. How can you be so cheerful in the morning?” Tony asked. He nursed his head, feeling as if hammers were being repeatedly slammed into his head. Dimly he realized that he was lying floor of the lobby. Vaguely he remembered playing poker last night... with Loki!  
  
Tony shot up, before instantly regretting it. “Hotaru, what happened to Loki?” What little he could make out in between the pounding told him that the lobby was intact and everyone was alive.   
  
Hotaru hummed. “He left about an hour ago. Said something about learning more about Poker because he wasn’t going to admit defeat to you.” Then she laughed. “He said he’ll be back next week to continue the challenge.”   
  
“Who spiked the eggnog last night?” Clint moaned. “There’s no way the standard stuff could have cause such a hangover.” The other Avengers were starting to stir as well.   
  
“Hmm, that might have been Loki,” Hotaru answered.   
  
“Sounds like something he would do,” Natasha muttered darkly. Poker with Loki and eggnog. How on earth did they end up in such a predicament?  
  
“Why aren’t you hung over?” Tony demanded. His secretary was looking too chipper this morning and Tony’s foggy memory supplied that she had been up all night long playing with them. Yet Hotaru looked perfectly fine. Not a single hair out of place nor dark circles around her eyes from lack of sleep.   
  
Hotaru just smiled. “Secret,” she sang.   
  
“Hate you so much.”


	24. Day 24: Silent Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go. Merry Christmas to those of you one day ahead. Merry Christmas Eve to the rest of you. :3

**Day 24:** Silent Night  
  
That was it! Red wasn’t going to deal with any longer. Being stuck at work for the last three days because of a blizzard was no fun at all. He ran out of things to test about 27 hours ago and was completely bored out of his mind. Not to mention Red refused to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Stark Industries. He wanted to go home! This blizzard had to go. NOW.

xXxXx

  
“Look, dad even if I wanted to come home, the blizzard is currently preventing that! … What? No. You just want me there for your stupid Christmas party! No!” Veer slammed down his phone and yet out a frustrated scream.   
  
“Pressuring parents?” Kit asked in an amused tone of voice.   
  
Veer groaned. “Yes. Sometimes I think my father only realizes I exist when he wants me to do some sort of public event to help promote his company. Never thought I would be so grateful to be snowed in.”   
  
Kit peered out the window. “Can’t say I know the feeling,” she said. After a moment of silent pondering, she looked over at her assistant and said, “You can always stay with me.”   
  
Veer blinked. “Um... are you sure?”  
  
“And it’s fine. It’s always just the three of us.”   
  
Veer looked outside at the still raging storm.  “Not that matters. It doesn’t look like the blizzard is going to let up,” he said.    
  
“You never know.”

xXxXx

  
“Is something wrong my friend?” Thor asked. He found Bruce staring off in the distance, looking deep in thought.   
  
Snapping to attention, Bruce shook his head. “No not really. Just... sympathetic that none of the employees will be able to make it home. The sun is already setting and none of them are home on Christmas Eve.”   
  
“Ah yes,” Thor agreed. “Many have been separated from their families during this holiday.”  
  
“I don’t suppose there’s anything you can do?” Bruce asked.   
  
Thor shook his head. “Such feats are beyond my control.”

xXxXx

  
It could be called a Christmas miracle. Just as the sun set and the sky turned dark, welcoming the oncoming night, the blizzard finally broke. It was silent for just a good hour before someone inside the building noticed and spread the word. Instantly the silence was broken and people were scrambling out, trying to get home as soon as possible. Last minute Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday wishes were tossed about. The roads were still blocked but making use of the company helicopters, planes and other transportation machines (or the few that didn’t care at all and walked through the snow); people were finally on their way home.   
  
Eventually the lower half SI tower was finally closed. The lights were shut and people were gone.   
  
Tony found Hotaru sitting outside. She was the last one left. “Do you need a ride?” he asked.   
  
Hotaru shook her head. “Kai’s on his way and home is only a few streets away.”   
  
“Hmm,” Tony acknowledge. Silence filled the area. Tony took the time to soak in the silence city. Power had been restored yesterday but the blizzard had kept people trapped inside anyways. Tony took in a deep breath, breathing out slowly to see the white puff of air. “It’s peaceful,” he softly remarked.   
  
Hotaru closed her eyes and nodded in agreement. “Yes it is.”   
  
“Mommy!”   
  
Hotaru stood up just in time for Kai and Aero to appear. “Hello baby,” she said, sweeping her son into her arms.   
  
“He insisted on coming,” Kai said. “Nice to see you’re doing well and the building is still standing in one piece, Mr. Stark.”   
  
Tony laughed. “Yeah. Good thing the storm broke. The employees were starting to go stir crazy.” Snow began to fall again. “You guys better go before the storm starts up again,” Tony said.   
  
The family nodded and waved. “Merry Christmas Mr. Stark,” Hotaru said.   
  
“Merry Christmas Yamashitas.”  


	25. Day 25: Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Holidays. Thanks for reading :3

**Day 25:** Family

Christmas Day. A joyous time of the year for spending time with family and friends. Some houses are peaceful and quiet, others are more chaotic. However wherever one may be, it was truly a wonderful time of the year. The peaceful quiet was shattered however by the sounds of police sirens as they chased after a red-clad thief who would end up disappearing like magic.

xXxXx

Veer nervously looked up. Kit was a good five inches smaller than him, hovering somewhere in the 5 foot range. As such, he wasn't expecting her father to be so... tall. Her father loomed over him easily 6 and half feet tall, maybe even close to seven.

"My father, Alan. Father this is Veer. He didn't want to go home for Christmas so I dragged him," Kit explained.

"Ah, so you're Veer," Alan said. "Welcome to our home."

"Hello sir," Veer greeted with a weak smile.

Alan clapped on the back and wordlessly lifted Veer's bags into the house.

"So what's your mom like?" Veer asked. Kit's father was nothing as he expected. Maybe Kit took after her mother more? The height had to come from somewhere.

Kit stared at him. A brief flash of fear shook Veer. Had he said something to upset his boss?

"Alpha's my foster father. He's never married," Kit finally said.

He had said something inappropriate! Surely he was going to be kicked to the curve now. How could he be so insensitive?

Kit tilted her head. "It's quite alright. You couldn't have known."

"Yeah but..."

Kit waved her head dismissively. "None of that. Stay all gloomy and Omega is gonna pounce you?"

"Omega?" Veer asked. He wasn't sure who exactly Alpha was either now that he thought about it."

"Alan is Alpha. Oliver is Omega. Back when Alan adopted me, I was teaching myself the Greek alphabet. The nickname just stuck. Oliver is father's first student. He's a bit like an annoying older brother," Kit explained.

"Oh." Veer fell silent and felt very out of place. "Are you sure it's okay Boss? I mean I really don't want to intrude."

Kit let out an exasperated sigh. "Just get inside the house, Veer. You're already here."

"O-okay!"

xXxXx

Arashi cracked open his eyes, glaring at the sunlight that was hitting his face. He supposed he should get up. There was a call to make.

Slowly he tumbled into the kitchen grabbing the phone and a bowl. As he poured cereal into his bowl, he dialed a number.

"Hi mom. Merry Christmas."

xXxXx

"Alright time for the family photo."

Seika sighed but otherwise didn't protest as her brother dragged her out of the seat onto the couch.

"I'll take the picture," Ita offered.

"Oh no you don't," Sano said. He grabbed his sister's fiancée and dumped him next to Seika. "You no longer have the right to wiggle out of family photos. You're marrying into the family in a year. The camera timer and tripod will do all the work."

"I'm marrying into the family," Ita asked with an amused smile.

Seika shrugged. "Technically speaking, I'm first born child so yes. You are. This is why I told you we should go see your parents first."

Sano shoved himself onto the couch in between his wife and Ita, placing his daughter on his lap. "Alright, get ready. Smile!"

xXxXx

"You're Asho!"

Asho stood, frozen in the doorway as a young woman with black hair tackled him. "You're the guy who finally melted my sister's cold heart."

"Serphia," Tam said from inside. "You're terrifying him."

Serphia smiled and dragged Asho into the house. "I really want to hear how you managed to convince her to date you," she whispered.

"Serphia," Tam warned.

"Going going!"

As Serphia vanished back into her room, Tam turned to Asho and sighed. "Don't mind her. You didn't have to come."

Asho just smiled. "I wanted to spend today with you."

"So cute! Smile for the camera!"

"Serphia!"

xXxXx

"Hotaru!"

Hotaru crossed her arms and gave her husband a stern stare. "Is Aero alright?" she demanded.

Kai let out a sigh of relief. "Yes he's fine. But are-"

"How long?" Hotaru interrupted.

"Six hours. Hotaru, dear. Are you-?"

"Good then I haven't missed Christmas yet," Hotaru interjected. Her eyes narrowed. "Unless I got transported somewhere farer than I thought. Where am I?"

"New York City, still," Kai answered. "Koibito, are you alright?"

Hotaru ignored the question again as she peered over Kai's shoulder. Burying a body in the dirt was an older couple. "Are those your parents?" she asked.

Kai looked behind him. "Um, yes?" he said hesitantly. His parents had surprised him by showing up right before the storm hit and Kai hadn't work up the courage to inform his wife about their arrival. "They came to help rescue you?"

He quietly waited for any reaction from his wife. While being kidnapped was nothing new to her, Kai knew her patience was thinned from being away from Aero and him for so long. Not to mention the sudden arrival of his parents too. Oh sure his parents adored Hotaru and the same went for her too. But his parents often wonder what it would be like if Kai had married a nice ninja girl instead.

"I'm really sorry that some enemies followed them here and decided to kidnap you. What kind of husband am I that I failed to protect you?" Kai started blurting out.

Hotaru leaned over and kissed him. "It's okay dear. If I panicked every time I got kidnapped, I would have had a nervous breakdown already."

Kai let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't mad. Or upset. She had not answered his question yet but as far as he could see, there were no visible wounds. Hmm. Now how to tell her the next part? "I don't suppose this is a good time to tell you that the entire clan is here?" he asked sheepishly.

" _Kai_."

xXxXx

"Pancakes!"

Tony shouted gleefully. Pepper and Steve were in the kitchen, flipping pancakes for Christmas breakfast. "You too are my favorite people in the world," Tony said, grabbing a plate. "Well Pepper's always my favorite, but Steve you've just moved up."

"Thanks," Steve said amused.

"Merry Christmas," Pepper greeted.

The rest of the Avengers stumbled into the living room soon enough. To Tony's delight, French toast and waffles soon joined the plates of the pancakes. Coulson showed up with a fresh pot of coffee shortly after.

They had just finished breakfast when Clint decided to point out the elephant in the room. "Who is the big box from?"

Sitting innocently in the middle of the living room was an Avengers themed wrapped gift with a large red and gold bow sitting on the top.

"You guys should open it," Pepper in a teasing tone. "I think you'll like it."

They opened the box to find it full of books. "How to Survive Christmas at SI," Natasha read.

"What are these?" Steve asked. He blushed a bright red to see there was a whole entry dedicated to him not being allowed to destroy the lobby and be near unstable (and stable) technology.

"I didn't think they were real," Bruce said. "I thought for sure she was joking."

"This will come in handy," Coulson remarked as he flipped through the pages.

Tony just smiled as he pulled out the card from the box. He had to admit, he did have the best employees ever.

_To: The Avengers (and Agent Coulson too)_

_From: the Employees_

_Welcome to the family._

_Merry Christmas._


End file.
